Vase
1980 (dated)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Vase of slender meiping form, decorated by hand in underglaze blue. On one side is seen a gentleman with a crook and sheep, watching a light of birds in the sky. On the reverse is the inscription: "Su wu herding sheep, painted by Xin Qingshan in the genshen year (1980)".
Su Wu is praised as an example of unchanging loyalty. He was Chamberlain to the Han emperor Wudi, who sent him on a mission to the ruler of the Xiongnu in 100 BC. After trying to kill a Chinese traitor there, Su Wu was exiled to the deserts round Lake Balkash where he tended Xiongnu flocks for 19 years. During this time, he clung steadfastly to his official sceptre as a symbol of his unswerving fidelity to the emperor, and used it as his shepherd's crook. At length he returned in honour to China as an old man, with his Xiongnu wife and son.
Su Wu is praised as an example of unchanging loyalty. He was Chamberlain to the Han emperor Wudi, who sent him on a mission to the ruler of the Xiongnu in 100 BC. After trying to kill a Chinese traitor there, Su Wu was exiled to the deserts round Lake Balkash where he tended Xiongnu flocks for 19 years. During this time, he clung steadfastly to his official sceptre as a symbol of his unswerving fidelity to the emperor, and used it as his shepherd's crook. At length he returned in honour to China as an old man, with his Xiongnu wife and son.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Porcelain painted in underglaze blue |
Brief description | Vase, porcelain painted in underglaze blue with Su Wu herding sheep; painted by Xin Qingshan, China (Jingdezhen), dated 1980 |
Physical description | Vase of slender meiping form, decorated by hand in underglaze blue. On one side is seen a gentleman with a crook and sheep, watching a light of birds in the sky. On the reverse is the inscription: "Su wu herding sheep, painted by Xin Qingshan in the genshen year (1980)". Su Wu is praised as an example of unchanging loyalty. He was Chamberlain to the Han emperor Wudi, who sent him on a mission to the ruler of the Xiongnu in 100 BC. After trying to kill a Chinese traitor there, Su Wu was exiled to the deserts round Lake Balkash where he tended Xiongnu flocks for 19 years. During this time, he clung steadfastly to his official sceptre as a symbol of his unswerving fidelity to the emperor, and used it as his shepherd's crook. At length he returned in honour to China as an old man, with his Xiongnu wife and son. |
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Credit line | Given by Mr Simon Kwan |
Production | Register |
Subjects depicted | |
Bibliographic reference | Mayers, William Frederick, The Chinese reader's manual; a handbook of biographical, historical, mythological, and general literary reference. Taipei: Literature House, 1964, p. 192. |
Collection | |
Accession number | FE.53-1990 |
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Record created | June 25, 2009 |
Record URL |
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